Uchiha Hikari froze mid-step.
Her Eight-Thousand-Spear Mark—the mark she always used to sense Soren's location—had vanished.
Completely.
The moment she realized it, she bolted out of Konoha's Advanced Academy, practically flying to the Hokage Tower. Bursting into the office, she found Soren's shadow clone sipping tea like a man on vacation.
Light blinked, confused.
"Brother… are you okay?"
Soren's clone raised a brow.
"What could possibly happen to me?"
Then, with an infuriatingly meaningful tone:
"But tonight, Light… you'd better prepare yourself properly."
"D-Darling, this is the office…"
The teasing words made Light's face burn red instantly.
Xiangzhi shot the clone an annoyed glare, grabbed Light's hand, and ushered her away before Soren's nonsense caused chaos.
Out in the First Ring District, the crowds were thin. Light nervously glanced left and right, gripping Xiangzhi's hand, voice barely louder than a mosquito.
"Xiangzhi-sister… the first time… is it comfortable? Or… does it hurt a lot?"
"...Oh my."
Xiangzhi's lips curled.
"Light really has grown up. In body—and in mind~"
She giggled softly, bringing the girl home while whispering secrets and dressing her in all kinds of outfits.
"Xiangzhi-sister… t-this underwear… i-it's too…"
Light covered her face with both hands, peeking through her fingers at the reflection in the full-body mirror.
The outfit was… sinful. Wicked. Dangerous.
"Darling loves this one the most," Xiangzhi sighed dramatically. "If Light doesn't like it, then we'll change—"
"No!"
Light dodged the attempt to remove it, bowing her head so deeply her chin touched her chest.
"If Brother likes it… then Light will wear anything…"
(This girl is adorable… Was Darling thinking the same way about me back then?)
Knowing this chance would only come once, Xiangzhi's smile took on a faintly devilish curve. She picked up… a certain prop.
Light froze.
Then understood.
Then panicked.
"Xiangzhi-sister—!! W-wait—!! I can't—! That's—!"
"Light." Xiangzhi's voice dripped honey. "Cats have tails."
"Th-this is bullying! Xiangzhi-sister is bullying me!"
"Tonight, you'll find out whether it's bullying~ And don't call for backup."
The door closed.
What happened afterwards would be illegal to describe.
Meanwhile, completely unaware…
Soren arrived at the former Valley of the End—now a tranquil Sun-Moon Lake.
The battlefield crater he and Madara had created three years ago was now a shimmering lake, teeming with fish and birds. Sunlight shattered across the water, turning spray into seven-colored arcs. Young trees sprouted everywhere. Deer and rabbits drinking at the shore leapt away the moment he appeared.
Soren sat cross-legged, letting the breeze brush past as he sank his senses inward—into the Sage Power steadily transforming into Fǎlì, the law-force.
The conversion rate:
Three units of Sage Energy = One unit of Fǎlì.
But the power behind each unit? Far greater.
As the last of his vast chakra finally dissolved into fǎlì, Soren rose to his feet.
He jumped once.
His body alone carried him a hundred meters upward.
Then—
BOOOOM!!
His punch crashed downward into the lake, sending a towering water-pillar skyward. A rainbow arced across the sky. That single blow could shatter the full fourth-stage Tengu-Form Susanoo.
Even the Third Raikage—at his peak—would be pulp under that strike.
Only Xiangzhi's life-enhanced body surpassed him physically… for now.
But Fǎlì wasn't about physical strength.
He willed it.
Gravity stopped mattering.
Soren floated into the sky, Eternal Mangekyō flashing crimson.
"Let's see… how strong this new power truly is."
"Susanoo!"
Blood-red armor erupted skyward.
But this time, the giant didn't stop.
It rose past mountains.
Past hills.
Past reason.
Two hundred meters.
Three hundred.
Four hundred.
Nearly five hundred meters tall before the manifestation finally stabilized.
A divine war-god in gleaming, glasslike armor—its features subtly shaped after Soren himself—stood over the land. Its mere spiritual pressure shook every creature within twenty kilometers. Birds fell from the sky. Waves slowed. The world itself held its breath.
Wind howled as the Susanoo drew its three-hundred-meter blade, the slash alone tearing clouds apart.
Just one swing…
One swing could rearrange mountains.
Soren checked the system's internal estimation.
Six Paths-Class.
A grin split his face.
Even if the Sage of Six Paths manifested in person, Soren would dare to ask—
"Can your blade match mine?"
The Susanoo dissipated slowly.
Heart itching, Soren sought an opponent. Someone worthy. The Three Great Sages?
Great Toad Sage — troublesome, but old.White Snake Sage — powerful, but elusive.Slug Sage — strong, but… punching her felt wrong.
He lifted his gaze.
His eyes shone.
The moon.
"A reincarnation eye equal to the Rinnegan? A power beyond measure?"
Soren's lips curled.
"Let's see how your Tenseigan compares to my Susanoo."
Space folded.
His teleportation range had expanded to twenty kilometers. In a chain of rapid flashes, he broke through the stratosphere, pushing past the world's edge—
And stepped into the lunar interior.
For the first time in a millennium—
A visitor from the Shinobi World arrived on the moon.
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